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Jefferson Adams

Jefferson Adams is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. His poems, essays and photographs have appeared in Antioch Review, Blue Mesa Review, CALIBAN, Hayden's Ferry Review, Huffington Post, the Mississippi Review, and Slate among others.

He is a member of both the National Writers Union, the International Federation of Journalists, and covers San Francisco Health News for Examiner.com.

Celiac.com 11/21/2008 - Not much is known about what effects, if any, a gluten-free diet might have upon gastroesophageal reflux disease-related symptoms (GERD-rs) in people with celiac disease. A team of researchers recently set out to assess the recurrence of GERD-rs, in celiac patients with nonerosive reflux disease (NERD).

Out of a total of 105 adult patients with celiac disease, the team found 29 with celiac disease who presented with the NERD. Those 29 were enrolled in the study, and compared against a control group of thirty non-celiac patients with NERD.

After 8 weeks of PPI treatment the team found that 25 (86.2%) celiac patients saw GERD-rs resolve, compared to just 20 (66.7%) control subjects. The team used clinical means to assess recurrence of GERD-rs at 6, 12, 18, and 24-month intervals after initial proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment were withdrawn for 8 weeks.

In the celiac disease group, just five patients (20%) had a recurrence of GERD-rs at 6 months, but none had recurrence at 12, 18, and 24 months, while the control group showed recurrence in six of 20 controls (30%) at 6 months, in another six (12/20, 60%) at 12 months, in another three (15/20, 75%) at 18 months, and in another two (17/20, 85%) at 24 months.

This is the first study to evaluate the effect of a gluten free diet in the nonerosive form of GERD in patients with celiac disease, via a clinical long-term follow-up, and the results suggest that a gluten free diet could be helpful reducing GERD symptoms and in preventing of their recurrence.

5 Responses:

I would like to see a study where they people with GERD but no celiac disease on a gluten free diet. Even though they don't have celiac disease, I bet a large number of these people would have resolution in symptoms.

I do not have biopsy proven celiac disease and all my GERD disappeared 5 years ago with the start of a gluten free life. I was able to throw away my acid blockers and remove the blocks elevating the head of my bed.

I found this very interesting. My son was diagnosed with gluten-intolerance, and like Anne, we did not have him biopsied, just began the diet. We decided to make our household gluten-free, and the only time I ever have 'heartburn' is when I go out and eat gluten!

I am very confused. I am still new to this disease, but it is my understanding that to control it you must have a gluten free diet to begin with. How can they test the effects of a gluten free diet on people with celiac, when to control their disease they have to be gluten free? Am I reading this wrong? Also Anne they did test the gluten free diet on non celiac patients? They were the control group. 20 out of 29 were helped.